Developing apps for Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone app stores is not economical. The primary problem is that you cannot get good prices for apps, since zero and very low costing apps present in Windows app stores, drag the prices of your apps down. Another problem is that you are cut off from the rest of the Windows ecosystem, since users of Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows cannot, cannot run your apps. The median price of non-free apps in the Windows 8 app store is about $2.99 or below. Compare this to prices found here at Amazon, which is often over an order of magnitude higher. The fact of the matter is that the prices developers are able to get in the Windows app stores, can support almost NO software business.

I suggest Microsoft address this problem by creating on Windows 8, another app store, called maybe, the App Store Pro. Place minimum prices for apps of at least $5 in this new store. However most importantly, provide infrastructure for developers to offer subscriptions for apps, starting at a minimum of $1 / month. This should ameliorate sticker shock consumers often suffer, when they see a relatively expensive app in the Windows 8 app store. Developers could therefore offer great apps at prices comparable to what you find in the above link to Amazon, or for relatively low monthly subscriptions. Also very importantly, provide an option, particularly for apps that are subscribed to, to make apps available via virtualization, on other platforms. This would allow developers to target the whole Windows ecosystem, as well as all platforms, and would be particularly of great value, to productivity / business developers.There are small but other very important things Microsoft can do to improve the Windows app store for developers. Place the App Store Pro tile in the top, leftmost position on the Start Screen in Windows 8. Also on all versions of Windows, not just Windows 8, insert an immovable button at the leftmost position of users' taskbars, which provides access to the Windows 8 app store.Another thing Microsoft should attend to, is sicking antitrust regulators on Google. Google continues to introduce and flood software market segments with zero price items such as its Android operating system, and various services. This anticompetitive act, drives the prices of software and other services through the floor, making it impossible for large amounts of members of its ecosystem, as well as the broader computing ecosystem, to make money.